The Warehouse Case
by EdgyEdgeWriter
Summary: It's a dark night in London, and youmas run free.


It rained.

The streets of London were soaked by the incessant rainfall which had been tormenting it for the past week. The fact that supernatural attacks were becoming more and more common didn't contribute to the happiness of the English citizens, either. At first, the british government had tried to cover up the situation as one of several terrorist attacks, but in the contemporary world, connected as it is, truth spread fast.

Those had been youma attacks.

She knocked twice on the warehouse's metallic walls.

...

Rain.

"Hello!", her friend knocked, too, far more anxious. "This is Interpol, open up!"

She looked around; thanks to the weather and to the darkness provided by nighttime, the two streets which surrounded that alley were completely deserted, meaning there wouldn't be anyone to find them there. This reassured her; it wasn't easy to deal with bystanders, especially when she was constantly reminded of-

"Venus", the cat said, as soon as she felt his weight on her shoulder. "Be careful, and finish this fast. Last time, you nearly took two dozen people alongside that gas station."

"Relax, Artemis", Venus answered, unfocused. She casually observed her white gloves, while her ally grumbled to herself. "I'm getting the handle of this youma fighting. It's gonna end like this..."

She snapped her gloved fingers, producing a spark.

"...in the blink of an eye."

"Watch your arrogance, Venus..."

"Ok, we're going in!"

The girl and her white cat, at the same time, turned their heads to the police officer. Holding her freshly unsheathed gun, she prepared to invade the warehouse, cautiously pushing the door aside. She looked confident, though fearful. Although she didn't understand anything of what had been taking place in that city, she always fought. Always sought to fight. Venus admired that. But, despite that...

The officer felt a friend's hand stop hers.

"Cease fire, Katarina", she advised, with a friendly smile and a kind pair of eyes, visible through her mask. "I can handle this alone."

"But... Mina", she tried, surprised by the youngster's attitude. "I... I can't let you go alone! You're still underaged... If something happened to you..."

Mina smiled.

"But I'm not underaged. I'm not a teenager! I'm Sailor V!", she intensely uttered, closing her fists and illuminating them with golden energy. "I'm the Princess of the Moon, and Katarina, I know how to take care of myself!"

Artemis rolled his eyes.

"...Mina... I'm serious..."

"I know. And I need someone to be out here, so they can watch both the entrance and my back. Remember when you saved me back in Manchester?", Venus asked, smiling, and not letting go of Katarina's hand.

"...yeah..."

"Then you can save me again, if you need to!"

Katarina's gloomy expression soon grew into one of contentment. She rested her firearm in its holster, and leaned back on the very wall she had hardly punched seconds before, comforted by her friend's words.

"Then show 'em, Sailor V."

Mina nodded.

The warehouse was murky. The warehouse was vast. Soon, Venus had distanced herself enough from the entrance that the already weak nocturnal light could no longer penetrate the dark environment, surrounded by piled up crates and abandoned fork-lifts. She walked, aimless, until she was forced to stop by her own common sense.

"And where's the light switch, now...", she muttered, while a smallish sphere of light arose atop the palm of her left hand.

The cat, possessing superior night vision, seemed to have no problems in investigating the place. He moved around on Mina's shoulder, annoying it with his claws, attempting to find something. The crescent moon symbol on his head shined, as he felt something she could not.

"Yes... I definitely detect evil energy..."

"Not my question..."

Venus stretched out her arm and conducted a bit more power through it, managing to light up a greater area with her orange light. However, all she found was more of the same, and her effort was rendered completely useless.

"He's close!..."

"Artemis?", Venus called out.

"The energy-"

"Hello, Sailor Venus."

Both of them stared at their guest.

He wore a black suit, nearly camouflaged by the night which persisted throughout the building. His hair, blonde, fair and long, tied up in a ponytail, sorted his appearance as feminine; his voice, however, was undoubtedly that of a man. He displayed a mischievous smile, analyzing his enemy with care.

"Would you look at that...", he said. "Long golden hair, beautiful blue eyes, around 16 and clothed in a japanese sailor suit, orange instead of blue. That's the vague description I got for Sailor V. But..."

Mina closed the fist which she used for illumination, going back to darkness. She could clearly see her opponent sitting atop a box, observing her with pure calmness.

"...the description for a Mina Aino is _quite_ similar, you know?"

"_It's a trap..."_, Artemis whispered, quickly becoming nervous.

Venus' patience didn't waver.

"I'd like to introduce myself, miss Venus. My name is Zoisite", the mysterious man spoke, descending from his position with a jump, and landing right in front of the warrior. "I'm one of the four generals who answer to Her Majesty, Queen Beryl."

"_Good luck_", Artemis wished, sensing Mina's emotions. Hastily, he leapt to the ground and withdrawed in skips, consumed by the shadows.

Venus let herself smile. She pointed her middle and index fingers to the general, and feeling an adrenaline rush spread through her whole body, said:

"Pleased to meet you, Zoisite. My name's Sailor V."

Like a rifle's bullet, a projectile of golden energy left Venus' extended fingers, moving towards its target with immense velocity. It wasn't too hard to dodge; in a precisely miniscule interval, Zoisite lifted himself off the ground with an unknown force, and moved aside. Mina's shot collided against a metal shelf, snapping it in half and melting its raw material. Hovering a bit off the ground, the man assured:

"Wow. I was trying to be friendly."

Before the second firing went off, Zoisite had already evaded it. With ease, he flew through the warehouse, going up and down, avoiding the orange bullets with a smile on his face. Sailor Venus, tireless, simply kept on shooting, her trained eyes following the enemy wherever he went, her fingers warming up with each new shot.

"Not fast enough, Sailor Warrior!"

Mina's eyes tightened.

She moved her hand leftwards, and fired.

Zoisite, with his movement pattern foreseen, nearly was hit; he only had time to use his telekinesis to lift a box and use it as a shield. As soon as it contacted Venus' powers, the wooden structure shattered, and its steaming shrapnel flew right by the general's surprised eyes.

"Well, incredible, what a good job!"

Moving both his hands up, Zoisite raised two dozen boxes; he succesfully intimidated his enemy, and laughing to himself, pushed his fists forward. The objects, all at once, raced against Sailor Venus.

She dodged one, jumping to the side.

She dodged another one, sliding below it.

She dodged-

Was hit in the head.

Mina rolled across the floor a few times, feeling her skull throb. As soon as she stopped, she noticed flowing drops of blood, muddling the vision of her right eye; she clenched her teeth. The plan was not to get hurt, but even with the magical protection provided by her transformation, she now bled...

And stood up.

"Ready for more?", Zoisite questioned. Eight more crates hovered in the air.

The girl rose her eyes, one of them bloodied.

"DIE!"

It didn't take long; a matter of half a second. Seeing all those heavy projectiles descending in her direction, almost as if in slow motion, Mina raised both her hands, ready to shoot. Holding her breath and counting to three, she mentally prepared herself, knowing she could do it.

And she did.

Eight shots, four from each hand, enough to destroy each and every box.

Zoisite's surprised look was a chance:

She further distanced her two hands.

"_RICOCHET!_"

Two dense projectiles, born from separate hands, went straight by their apparent target; each one hit a wall, bounced off, and due to the perfect angle that Mina had obtained with her shots, ran directly against Zoisite's back. He was uncapable of reacting; Venus' radiant energy hit him full force.

Pushed by the impact, he crashed agaisnt the wall, and fell.

"My... my wonderful face..."

Sailor Venus walked towards her adversary unhurried, congratulating herself for her success. Zoisite's neck and the left side of his face, both places hurt by Venus, were now areas of exposed meat and bloody tissue. The man, trying to withstand the burning pain he felt, shook. He tried to get back up, but remained seated.

"Venus, end this!", she heard Artemis shout, nearing.

She just didn't listen to it.

"You bitch...", Zoisite called, furious. His eyes vibrated with wrath. "You _dare_ dirty my face with _blood_! You'll pay with your life...!

"Oh yeah?! Well, I say the same!", she cried, looking downwards, inferiorizing her foe. She pointed to the red that dripped towards her eye. "I have a date tomorrow, you know? This here injury could cost me a boy! He might think I'm the fighting type..."

"Venus...!", Artemis tried.

"Young love... how stupid...", the man grumbled, laughing out loud. "If only you knew..."

"Oh, and _you _do?"

"Of course I!-"

A weak shot. One of Zoisite's cheeks gained a thin cut, beggining to burn. His head having been pushed by the impact, he was obliged to turn it again, and to stare Sailor Venus straight in the eyes.

"Shut the fuck up!", she ordered. "I could've already _killed you_, if I wanted."

Zoisite shivered. Artemis' fur stood on end, and Mina rose an eyebrow.

"Oh yeah? Well, I say the same."

It was too fast for her to see it; she tried to shoot, but he had already returned to the air, and disappeared as a blur due to his speed. Feeling the wind drag her hair, she turned around; her opponent was found right behind, and his fist was already clenched. She tried, but alas, she couldn't.

Using her left arm as a shield wasn't enough.

No sooner had the punch found its way against Venus' bone, she heard a crumbly crackle. Pain came soon after, when she was hurled to the floor, grazing her knees in the braking process. The broken limb burst with agony, unable to move, and the girl, with no other option, screamed.

"Venus! Your arm-"

"_MY ARM IS FINE, ARTEMIS_", she shouted, growing angry. "GET BACK TO HIDING AND LET _ME_ HANDLE THIS!"

She got back on her feet, doing everything in her power to ignore the pain, and attempted to shoot Zoisite's head; he, however, blocked the attack, lifting one more box. The container shattered, and from inside it spread out hundreds of silver bullets, all stopped midair by the general's telekinesis. He ascended, putting himself above Sailor Venus.

He then strecthed his right arm towards his back.

Mina bit her tongue.

"_VENUS-_"

"I present you pain!"

"_-CHAIN!_"

When Zoisite pushed his arm back, as if he throwed a ball, all the bullets he had kept afloat were shot as if from a real gun. Mina, guessing her foe's attack, reacted in time; from her energy, she forged a golden chain, which she spinned as a lasso with absurd speed, effectively turning it into a shield.

As she looked back, she could note to herself that the cat had backed up; _'Great'_. The Venus Chain, almost like a plane's turbine, kept being spun by Mina's intact arm, blocking most of the shots. She knew she couldn't keep it on forever, though; every now and then, bullets would go through the barrier, finding defenseless spaces, and lick her blood soon after opening deep cuts in her skin.

'_I can't use my left...'_

Zoisite laughed histerically, his hand still up. Acute pain took over Mina's body.

'_I can't just defend..."_

Bullet after bullet, going through. Bullet after bullet, hitting.

"MINA!"

She let go of the whip.

Extending the same fingers, still with her right hand, Venus took a last shot. Unpredictable to Zoisite, this projectile hit a wall, hit a steel shelf, hit the ceiling and finally reached the target's nape. With most of the energy dissipated by the bouncing, the damage dealt to Zoisite was mainly concussive; stunned, he ceased his attack, gliding to the side.

The remaining wave of shots still hit Sailor Venus, some of the projectiles perforating her body, but she didn't care anymore. After falling to the floor due to such attack, she rose again, created a new whip, turned a full circle and let it go.

Venus Chain tied up Zoisite's legs.

Mina's strenght was more than enough for her to pull him to the ground.

Gazing into his scared eyes, she shouted:

"SAILOR V KICK!"

All was over. Sailor Venus' powerful kick, having hit Zoisite's mouth, broke a few of his teeth, and so he plummeted. As blood squirted from the wounded region, he painfully collided with a random crate, which blasted open to reveal it contained a stock of hand grenades. This time around, he didn't try go get back up.

"VENUS, YOU ALMOST GOT YOURSELF KILLED!", Artemis reprimanded, leaping to his apprentice's shoulders once more, while she panted heavily. "YOU SHOULD'VE KILLED HIM SOON AS YOU HAD THE CHANCE!"

"YEAH, MINA, YOU ALMOST GOT YOURSELF KILLED!", Katarina revealed herself, approaching. Apparently, it was her voice that had interrupted the fight moments before. "When I heard gunshots, I realised I shouldn't have let you go-"

Mina fell to her knees.

"M-Mina!?"

She trembled. Her vision, blurry. She tried to stay awake, but it was difficult.

"It's worse than I thought...", the cat remarked, insecure. He directed his attention to Katarina. "Could you call an ambulance? I'm not sure how much the Pen can heal her..."

"No signal here! Going outside right now!"

Katarina ran off, worried sick.

"Venus! Venus! Do you hear me, Venus?"

_She heard him... she did... tried to say it, but her head spun..._

"Venus! Sailor Venus!"

"_Venus._"

Both her and Artemis turned their heads. Her heart stopped when she saw a pinless grenade flying straight against her face; she closed her eyes.

* * *

"BOOM!", she screamed, dropping her joystick and raising her arms. "Take that, Sailor V Kick! HAH!"

The TV screen flashed with the message 'FLAWLESS VICTORY' on it, with Sailor V standing above the just defeated youma, in campaign mode. The girl, staring at the fallen enemy with pride, was more than satisfied with her progress.

'_I guess it's time to sleep...'_

Her alarm rang loud.

She gazed; 8:45.

The sun had risen long ago.

"_Shit."_

"USAGI! YOU'RE LATE FOR SCHOOL!"

"I'M GOING, MOM!"

It was a routine, by now. As if in any other day, the student ran down the stairs, her bag semi-ready, caught something to eat on the way and sped away from the house without even seeing off her family. She was already late; haste was necessary, if the goal was not getting scolded once more.

She didn't even notice the black cat who watched.

The moon on its forehead glowed.

* * *

**AUTHOR'S NOTE: This was based on a quick brainstorm I did to think up a more mature/shonen-y version of Sailor Moon. Not sure if I'll actually keep writing it (have a lot to worry about already), so don't expect much. As of now, this is merely a short story.  
PS: Don't get mad at me for using Minako's anglicanized name. She's a native brit in this universe.**


End file.
